Site description The complex of reserves centred on Dinder National Park is situated east of the town of Ed Damanzin against the Ethiopian frontier. The site includes the National Park, the buffer zone to the west and south, and the contiguous Rahad Game Reserve to the north. The park principally consists of a low-lying flood-plain sloping gently from the Ethiopian highlands with a few rocky hills in the southern corner. The Rahad and Dinder rivers flow north-westwards through the park. Tributary streams form seasonally flooded lowlands, known as mayas, in much of the area adjacent to the Ethiopian border. Along permanent and ephemeral streams the vegetation consists of Hyphaene thebaica, Acacia sieberiana,Tamarindus indica and Ficus species, with an understorey of Ziziphus abyssinica and Mimosa pigra, and a herbaceous layer of coarse grasses including Sorghum and Brachiaria spp. Thorn-bush savanna (Acaciaseyal–Balanitesaegyptica) with tall grasses dominates in the north, while Combretumaculeatum woodland is found in the moister south. Nymphaea and Ipomoea spp. are common in swampy areas and shallow lakes, while the open grass plains are composed of Themeda triandra, Panicum, Hyparrhenia and Cynodon spp. The mayas, which form the main source of water and green fodder during the dry season of November–June, are dominated by grasses such as Echinochloa spp. The park has a mean annual rainfall of 600–1,000 mm, falling between May and November.

Key Biodiversity See Box and Table 2 for key species. There are few detailed bird records for Dinder. Given, however, the extent and quality of the habitat, it is likely that more species characteristic of the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome (A04) will be found to occur. One species of the Sahel biome (A03) has been recorded (see Table 2).